MSHA conducted special impact inspections at mines in Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Monthly impact inspections began in force in April 2010 at mines that merit increased agency attention and enforcement due to their poor compliance history or particular compliance concerns. Since then, MSHA inspectors have conducted 1,129 impact inspections and issued 16,136 citations, 1,310 orders and 60 safeguards.

Last year was the safest year in US mining history, both in terms of number of deaths and injury rates.

These rates are calculated based on hours of miners’ exposure, a relative measure taking into account recent employment changes in the mining market.

In 2015, 28 miners died in mining accidents, down from 45 in 2014. The fatal injury rate, expressed as reported injuries per 200,000 hours worked, was the lowest in mining history for all mining at 0.0096, down from 0.0144 in 2014 and 0.0110 in 2011 and 2012.

The fatal injury rate for coal mining in 2015 was 0.0121, the lowest rate ever. The previous fatal injury rate low was set in 2011, during a period of peak employment in the coal industry.

In the metal and nonmetal mining industry, both the number of fatalities and the fatal injury rate were cut almost in half from the previous year’s figures. The fatal injury rate of 0.0085 was close to the all-time low of 0.0079 set in 2012.

The all-injury rate – reported by mine operators – also dropped to a new low in 2015 at 2.28. Coal’s all-injury rate fell to 2.88, the first time it dropped below 3.0. Metal and nonmetal’s all-injury rate fell to a new low of 2.01.